Heart and Heal
by Epicocity
Summary: Oneshot. When Serena suddenly collapses, Ash, Clemont and Bonnie spiral into a panic to figure out just what is wrong with her. Little did they know that their answer was an unexpected one that came from a wholly unanticipated source: Team Rocket, themselves. Amourshipping.
**Oneshot Tuesday is here! Yay! So, this time we have some more humor, a lot like my first oneshot. This one is set not within the Ancienverse and definitely after XYZ 22. You may notice** _ **some**_ **similarities to said episode, but I've done enough to make this my own. I hope you all enjoy very much.**

 **Author: Epicocity**

 **Rating: K**

 **Pairings: Amourshipping**

 **DISCLAIMER: Yadda yadda, don't own Pokémon…on we go.**

* * *

 **Heart and Heal**

An Amourshipping Pokémon Story

"Oooh, look at all the magazines! Can I have one, Clemont? Please? Pleeeeease?" Bonnie chirped innocently, looking at her brother with the most gleaming, innocent eyes in existence. Dedenne was mimicking his caretaker, blinking his big black eyes at his trainer. Clemont appeared to laugh nervously, like he wasn't sure what to say.

"Aw, come on, Clemont," Ash said confidently, flinging his arm around the inventor. He could tell that Clemont felt pressured by his sister. He also knew that Bonnie could be very… _persuasive_ when she was like this. "We'll all get a magazine, so it won't be that bad."

"Yeah…that sounds like a great idea, Ash," Clemont breathed out. Ash clapped him on the back, glad he could come up with such a great idea. He turned around towards Serena who was at a nearby ice cream stand close to the exit from the small town they were stopping in for just a moment.

"Serena, we're all picking magazines!" Ash called out to the performer.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried out, waving his hands with his trainer to bring Serena over. She smiled at him, still holding tightly to the ice creams in her hand, and she came over. As soon as she reached the group, she handed the ice cream cones over, including a small one for both Pikachu and Dedenne. Ash figured it was probably a good thing that Squishy ate sun, otherwise he wasn't sure if Serena would have been able to handle all of them. Of course, within seconds, Ash had downed the ice cream. So had Pikachu and Bonnie, the little girl turning towards the magazine stand.

"Ash, slow down or you'll get a stomachache," the honey-blonde warned him. Swallowing the frozen treat, Ash grinned at her.

"Nah, eating it quick is sometimes the best way to go!" Ash assured her. She looked at him skeptically, but as they were all looking at magazines, and a line was forming behind them, Serena seemed to decide to follow his advice and downed the cone quickly. A shudder passed through her frame, but she stepped forward to Ash's side and they began to peruse the wide selection of magazines on the stand. "Buddy, doesn't this look awesome! Diantha's on the front cover!"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried cheerfully. Having his friend's approval, Ash took the magazine off the shelf and noticed Clemont pulling out one called "Technology Weekly" while Bonnie seemed to grab a photograph magazine, "because it had a lot of cute Pokémon". Serena was the only one who seemed to take a little more time, her gaze split between two separate magazines. While they were paying for theirs, the honey-blonde performer finally seemed to decide on hers and purchased shortly after they did.

"Dedenne, look at this Alomomola! It's so cute!"

"Nenene!" Ash smiled, glad that Bonnie was able to enjoy the magazine. He, meanwhile, had shoved his into his pack, as had Clemont. They usually looked at stuff like that before they went to sleep. Ash felt that it allowed him to come up with great battle strategies in his sleep…though it sometimes meant Pikachu having the same dreams and waking him up with an Iron Tail. Serena, though, was like Bonnie, flipping through her magazine with an increasingly red face. Eventually, he could swear that her head was actually steaming.

"Serena, is everything okay?" Ash asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She felt hot, which was odd, since she was usually just the perfect level of warmth. Serena snapped the magazine shut, like she didn't want him to see it and she shoved it into her own bag.

"Fine. Totally fine!" Serena squeaked out. Ash retracted his hand. Girls could really confuse him, and right now Serena was acting beyond weird. She also picked up her pace, her bag bouncing along with her. He had to wonder just what magazine she had picked to make her so red in the face, which still hadn't receded. In fact, as they continued out of the town and through the woods and into a nice clearing with a creek…the red in Serena's face never disappeared.

It got _worse_.

Then, as they were setting up for a nice lunch break, and he and Serena were putting the plates on the table, she dropped to the ground. At first, Ash figured she had just tripped and he walked around the table to help her back up…but that clearly wasn't the case. "Serena!"

"Mmmm…" seemed to be the only sound she could make as Ash kneeled at her side. Bonnie and Clemont were over in a flash as well. Not being an expert in this, Ash decided that maybe Serena wasn't feeling well, and he reached over to her head.

"Yeowch! She's hot…" Ash gasped out, feeling like his hand had just been burned.

"She is?" Bonnie asked, a little grin on her face that Ash didn't understand. Clemont ignored his sister and also felt Serena's forehead.

"She is…Serena's burning up," Clemont pointed out with concern. Ash's lips stretched into a frown, worried about this whole situation. It almost felt oddly familiar. "Bonnie, can you set your tent up? We should get Serena into some shade."

"On it!" Bonnie said with a salute and she and Dedenne scampered off to set up their Shellder tent. Knowing that they'd have to move Serena into the tent, Ash bent down and hauled her body on him. Clemont quickly saw what he was trying to do and moved to the other side to help. A short distance away, Bonnie was moving at mach speed to assemble the tent. Ash had other things on his mind.

Like the fact that Serena was barely moving. The only reason he was assured that she wasn't completely passed out was the fact that her lips were moving, though even with his face so close to hers, he didn't understand what she was saying. After dragging her a short way, Ash and Clemont helped Serena into the tent. No sooner had they laid her down than Bonnie was pushing them out with as much force as she could muster.

"I have to change Serena's clothes! No boys allowed!" Bonnie declared, zipping up the tent flap, and leaving the two outside without a single clue. Yep, this was definitely starting to feel _very_ familiar to Ash. It reminded him of when he was sick just a couple weeks ago…and Serena had been the one taking care of _him_. It also reminded him of how she had dressed up in his clothes…and likely changed in the same tent as him…That was just weird and made his own face flush the same red Serena had been sporting all afternoon, though only for a moment. It did remind him of something crucial, though.

"Clemont, do you still have that medicine you used on me a couple weeks ago?" he asked his bespectacled friend.

"I do! Great idea, Ash!" Clemont exclaimed, almost seeming shocked that he hadn't thought of it himself. He dove for his pack and began sorting through it, with many a clank heard in the clearing. While he was searching through, the tent flap unzipped and Bonnie poked her head out.

"She's decent now. What's Clemont doing?"

"Looking for medicine," Ash answered. Bonnie finished unzipping the flap all the way and Pikachu dashed into the tent. Ash wasn't far behind; he was really worried about Serena, what with how she had just collapsed. On his first sight of her, his lips took another fierce downturn. She _really_ wasn't looking well, her breaths shallow and her brow sweaty. It worried him.

"All right, Ash, can you help me administer it?" Clemont asked, handing the medicine off to Ash. He nodded and scooted around in the tent to grab Serena's head and tilt it up. Her lips were shut, so in order to help Clemont, he moved one of his hands downward, allowing Serena's head to rest in his lap. She seemed to smile a little, which was a good sign, but Ash still proceeded with using his fingers to open her mouth so Clemont could get the medicine in. Off to the side, Bonnie was clasping her hands together in worry while Clemont managed to get the medicine down. "She seems to have swallowed it, so…"

"Then why does she look worse, Clemont?" Bonnie asked, herself frowning. Clemont adjusted his glasses and peered closer at Serena. Ash decided to do the same; she looked happy, but her redness was even worse, and she felt like a Magmortar on his lap. Just what was going on with Serena today?

"Guys, it's kind of hot in here, so let's talk about this outside and try to let Serena rest a bit," Ash pointed out. He scooted backwards and let Serena's head rest gingerly on her pillow. After he saw she was sleeping slightly peacefully, he crouched and waddled out of the tent to join Bonnie and Clemont. "So…Clemont, just what is wrong with her?"

"I don't know!" Clemont answered in panic. "The medicine should have worked! It takes care of most colds and fevers!"

"Now it sounds about as useless as your inventions, big brother," Bonnie commented dryly. Clemont just started scrabbling at the back of his head in frustration. While he was doing so, Ash looked back into the tent. Since they had left, Serena appeared to have been getting worse. She was tossing and turning with little rhyme or reason. Her hand was clasping at her chest, as though it was missing something.

"Well, whatever it is, we gotta figure it out, quick!" Ash proclaimed. He really didn't like seeing Serena in pain like this, with whatever it was.

"Aha! I have it!" Clemont finally proclaimed with one of his fingers pointing proudly into the air. Both Ash and Bonnie turned to him, wondering just what Clemont had. "Heh heh, the future is now thanks to science! Clemontic Gear on!"

From seemingly out of nowhere, Clemont appeared to pull out a monitor that looked to have a thermometer attached to it. Ash blinked, entirely unsure of just what it was that he was holding. Even Bonnie's face had dropped, indicating that she had no idea what it was. All Ash could think was one thing, "Uh, science is amazing and all, but what is it?"

"I'm so glad you asked, Ash," Clemont said with a dramatic adjustment of his glasses. While he was putting on the theatrics (which Bonnie looked ready to scold him for) Ash looked back in the tent and could see Serena truly looking upset, her hand now scrabbling frantically at her chest, her shirt riding up a little. "Um…Ash, are you listening?"

"Wha…? Yeah, science is totally amazing."

"I think he's totally staring at Serena, Clemont," Bonnie pointed out, her grin even wider than when he'd said Serena was hot. Bonnie was too weird for him right now…

"She looks upset," Ash noted. Just saying so seemed to make him understand things in his head: her ribbon was missing. Of course, she never wore it when she was sleeping, but maybe she still thought it should have been there. "Pikachu, go get Serena's ribbon and give it to her."

"Pipika!" Pikachu responded with his own salute, darting back into the tent. Ash watched as his best buddy dug through Serena's clothing and pulled out the ribbon, placing it lightly on her chest. Serena's hand clasped around it, and her intense fidgeting movements appeared to calm down. There was one crisis averted…now they just had to figure out why she was sick, and what they could do to help her.

"So, as I was saying…I call it the 'Find Out What Ails Somebody Detector'!"

"Sounds boring," Bonnie sighed out, like she was resigned to the fact that this was going to happen. Ash didn't care; partly because science was so amazing, and partly because he really hoped it would work in finding the problem with Serena.

"How does it work?" Ash asked, his eyes shining just a little. He couldn't help it. Clemont's inventions were always exciting, no matter how many of them he made…or blew up.

"I'll attach the monitor to Serena's arm and it will read her vitals and determine just what's making her sick!" Clemont announced triumphantly. "However, there will only be enough room in the tent for me to try it."

"That's fine! Bonnie and I can get some water," Ash said, tossing a glance to Bonnie, who nodded in agreement. "It's probably better that we don't all crowd her in the tent like that. It got pretty hot in there before, and you said we should keep her cool."

"Less talking and more water getting, Ash!" Bonnie chirped out, almost like she was scolding him. Ash just laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head before grabbing a nearby pot (which was the easiest thing to fill) and heading down to the edge of the creek with Bonnie. Clemont was slipping inside the tent as he did so.

"Pikapi…pikachu pika pipika," Pikachu said with a slight somber tone to his voice once they'd gotten there.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm sure Serena will be fine," Ash assured his best friend as he gathered water into the pot. Pikachu nodded, while also taking a small cup and filling it with water. "I just wonder why. She was fine in town…"

"Maybe she was cursed!" Bonnie said with a spooky tone of voice. Of course, it didn't scare Ash and only caused him to raise an eyebrow. "I'm just kidding…But she was mumbling weird stuff while I was changing her clothes."

"Like what?" Ash asked. Next to him, Pikachu cocked his head to the side while dumping water into the pot with his little cup.

"Stuff like 'dresses' and 'need to say it' and 'stupid magazine'," Bonnie elaborated with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. Ash's lips kept frowning. Those were certainly weird things for Serena to say in such a delirious state. But it did give him something to think about.

"What kind of magazine did she get anyway?"

"No idea." That seemed to settle that as the two turned back towards the tent with plenty of cold water. Ash grabbed a rag from the table setting that he figured could be used to help with the fever. This was definitely making him think it was a reverse situation of when he'd been sick…though he had no intention of dressing in Serena's clothes no matter what happened. Although, it did help him to realize that she clearly didn't have a cold or had gotten sick from anything like being wet and cold. There hadn't been rain for days and they'd all been eating well and not falling into rivers…

"Do you smell something, Ash?" Bonnie asked innocently. Ash sniffed at the air and realized that he did smell something. It almost smelled like grilled hamburgers, and it made his mouth start to water…at least, until he saw the slight stream of smoke issuing from the tent.

"Guys, help! I made a mistake!" Clemont was yelling. Yep, something was definitely wrong. Three guesses as to what it was, too. Bonnie already knew, that was why she was running towards the tent.

"Clemont, what did you _do_?" she said with exasperation.

"Nothing!" Clemont tried to defend. Ash could hardly even see his face through the plume of smoke. "I just can't get this off and it…"

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash quickly ordered. If Clemont couldn't get it off Serena's arm when it had the risk of exploding, then they would have to use more forceful methods to do so. Pikachu slid in through the smoke, and Ash briefly heard the sound of his Iron Tail colliding with whatever was connected to Serena. That's when he decided to duck his head in through the smoke and grab the invention. Clemont happened to be attached to it as well, which meant that the two of them were pulled out together and moved away from the tent.

Then it exploded.

"Didn't see that coming…" Clemont coughed out. Ash hung his head. Science was really amazing…until it blew up. "I think the wires got tangled up…"

"Typical," Bonnie commented, she and Dedenne taking a fan to clear the remaining smoke out of the tent. This had clearly been a disaster, and once Ash was sure that a majority of the soot from the explosion was clean from his face, he turned to Clemont.

"So…what's wrong with her?" Clemont coughed again, and then he shrugged before he could say anything.

"I don't know," he answered. That wasn't a good answer. He was starting to get worried that they didn't have any at all. Clemont sighed and sat in one of the nearby chairs. Ash sat next to him as Bonnie slipped inside the tent to look after Serena. Hopefully the smoke and explosion hadn't rattled her too much. "I kept getting this heart sign on the monitor, but I checked her pulse and her heart seemed fine and all…"

"So we don't know _anything_?" Clemont looked positively ashamed by this. Ash looked at the ground with a dejected face, staring at the remains of what was once Clemont's invention. How were they going to figure this out?

"AAAAAAAH!" came Bonnie's shrill scream from the tent. Even Dedenne seemed to be getting in on the action, sounding like a garbled mess of his species language. Pikachu leapt out of the tent at this moment with a wild look on his face.

"Pikapi! Pipika pikachu pika pika pika chu chu!" Pikachu chattered out, and even Ash felt he was having a hard time understanding, his forehead scrunching in confusion.

"Buddy, you know I can't understand you when you panic…" Ash pointed out. Pikachu froze in his tracks and then straightened himself. Suddenly, he drooped down and grabbed his ears, pulling them to the side so they looked sort of like hair…like Serena's hair. Then he fell over onto his back with an expressive, "Pi…ka…" and stopped moving. Ash blinked. Bonnie then elucidated.

"She's not moving! She's not moving!" Bonnie screeched, emerging from the tent with Dedenne, who was clinging to her ponytail. "Serena's not moving! I don't know if she's breathing! Is she dead? Is she dead? Clemont, what did your invention do to her? !"

"I didn't do anything, Bonnie. I just attached a few things to her arm. It was harmless!" Clemont defended himself. Ash folded his arms and cocked his head. The invention had hardly been harmless, but it certainly wasn't at a level of killing people off.

"Then…" Bonnie's face drew itself into a look of horror, "…was it the ice cream? I'm so sorry, Serena! I killed Serena because I wanted ice cream! We were eating it so fast that she probably didn't chew properly and…Dedenne was the one who suggested it."

"De ne ne ne!" Dedenne refuted his caretaker profusely.

"You know you were whispering it in my ear the whole time! I saw your eyes sparkling!" Bonnie challenged the little Antenna Pokémon. Dedenne apparently didn't like being blamed for this incident and he nuzzled himself against Bonnie. Clemont gave a great outcry and watched as Bonnie collapsed to the ground, convulsing with electricity.

"Dedenne, that was a very mean thing to do!" Clemont scolded the fairy type. Dedenne hung his head in shame. "Bonnie, why don't you have some water? Ash, you should check on Serena and make sure she isn't…you know, dead."

"No problem," Ash claimed with a pumping of his fist. Pikachu, having recovered from obviously portraying Serena as dead, leapt onto his shoulder. At the same time, Bonnie was propped up in a chair by Clemont as her body swayed back and forth.

"Lots and lots of Pidgeys…" she was saying with a slight giggle. Clearly the stress and shocks had gotten to her. Ash shook his head, bent low and entered the tent. The first thing he noticed was, indeed, how rigid Serena was. Before he took a seat to check on her, he realized he still had the rag and pot in his hand. Somehow, he hadn't let go of them this entire time. So, he finally did. He placed them on the ground and kneeled down next to Serena's face. To his great relief, he could feel her breath on his face.

"Don't worry, buddy. Serena's fine. She's just sleeping," Ash assured the electric mouse that hopped off his shoulder to the other side of Serena. Ash looked down at the sleeping performer and noticed that she appeared to be shivering a little. Pikachu noticed, too, because he began pulling her sleeping bag a little further up on her form. Ash placed a hand on her forehead. It was still hot, though not to the extent it was before.

His gaze slid over to the pot and the rag. He wasn't totally aware of how to take care of a sick person, but he had seen Brock take care of plenty of sick Pokémon on his journey, and he knew the principle probably wasn't that different. He also remembered what Serena did for him when he had been sick. Smiling to himself and reassuring himself that he could do this, Ash dipped the rag into the water and wrung it out. The water was still cold and he placed it gingerly on Serena's head. She seemed to stop shivering, but Ash figured that it was best to continue watching over her while he could.

"Ash…" came a sudden noise, almost sounding like whisper on the wind. Pikachu's ears twitched, showing that he had heard it, too, but neither knew where it had come from. "So…cool…"

"Is that…?" Ash asked of Pikachu. He didn't want to speak any louder, for fear of waking her when she needed her rest. Instead, he pointed at her and Pikachu nodded tentatively. Ash shuffled a little closer, wanting to catch exactly what she was saying. His face got close, and she could feel her breath on his cheek. He could also tell that her body seemed to be cooling just a little.

"Ash…" He swallowed hard. Was Serena… _dreaming_ about him? That seemed a little odd…well, not all that odd. Ash had had a dream about her when he was sick, but he could hardly remember it now. "Need to…say…"

"Chespin! Use Pin Missile!" The sudden command from outside the tent jerked Ash and Pikachu's attention well away from Serena. Clearly something was going on outside. Worse than that, it seemed loud enough that it could disturb Serena's rest.

"Pikachu, let's go!" Ash said, adjusting the hat on his head. Pikachu sped in front of him and both exited the tent. The raven haired trainer stopped short just as a Psybeam struck the ground right in front of him. "All right, who did that? !"

"Who do you think? Do you really have to ask?"

"If that's what's on your mind, we'll take you to task!" Ash groaned internally. He knew those rhyming schemes and familiar voices. Why did they always have to show up at exactly the wrong time for everything?

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!" Ash wanted to facepalm as he caught sight of them hovering in their balloon. He didn't have time for this, and he looked down to Pikachu, ready to give him the order to use Thunderbolt.

"Team Rocket blast off…wait, where's the twerpette?" Ash hesitated. That was unlike them. Jessie and James almost _always_ finished their motto, even if it was the stupidest thing to do in the moment. James leaned over the side of the balloon and peered around skeptically.

"I don't see her, either," James said. Now, Ash was done with their interference and he took a step forward.

"She's not feeling well and she's sleeping," Ash said sternly. "So, go away! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Intercept it with Seed Bomb," Jessie commanded lazily. Gourgeist levitated in front of her and fired off the giant, glowing green seeds that collided with Pikachu's Thunderbolt, creating an explosion in midair. Ash cringed. There was no way those loud noises could be a good thing for his ailing friend. However, in the time that the two attacks had collided, Jessie and James both seemed to descend to the ground. For some reason, instead of stealing Pikachu or any other Pokémon in the area, they went straight for the food that was still left on the table. "Sho…what's wrong wish she twerpette?"

"I don't know, but you crooks being here can't be good for her," Ash said. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

"Pika!" Pikachu cried out, leaping forward and bringing a shining Iron Tail straight on both of their heads. They seemed to grit their teeth, but didn't stop eating, and James even took the time to look contemplative.

"This gives me an odd sense of déjà vu…" he noted, scarfing a sandwich. Bonnie, having clearly recovered, stomped over to the blue haired man with Dedenne on her shoulder.

"Nuzzle." Dedenne's cheeks sparked as he rubbed them and Ash watched with a sense of some amusement as the Pokémon leapt onto James and sparked him. James cried out comically and collapsed on the ground with his butt in the air. Suddenly, Ash realized that something was off about this picture of Team Rocket gorging on their food, but before he could pick up on what it was, Jessie seemed to have some kind of revelation.

"This is like that time when the twerp got sick and the twerpette dressed up as him!" she noted in triumph. The magenta haired woman and her Gourgeist both turned to Ash with curious looks. "Does that mean you'll dress up as her? You've pulled off the-"

"Shut up!" Ash cried out loudly, starting to wave his hands as an attempt to silence her. Pikachu was joining him as well. Bonnie and Clemont both turned to Ash in question. He looked to Pikachu and both rubbed the back of their necks. There had to be a way to get Team Rocket out of here. _You cross-dress once to get into a stupid gym and people try to make it like it's a recurring thing…_

"Nothing to be ashamed of," Jessie pointed out with a shrug, and another swallow of _their_ food. "James used to pull them off all the-"

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" All ten of the people and Pokémon in the clearing turned (or whipped around in Ash's case) to the tent in absolute surprise. Moments later, Meowth stumbled out, his own eyes wide, sweat running down his fur and a group of Serena's pokeballs in his hands. _That_ was what seemed so off! Meowth had been missing this entire time. "Jess, I tink da twerpette is dead!"

"She's not dead…" Ash said exasperatedly. That hardly did enough to assuage Meowth's fears, because the feline appeared to be panicking and near hyperventilation.

"Who cares?" Jessie snapped, shoving another thing of food in her mouth. "You got her pokeballs, right?"

"Well…yeah…but it was da freakiest ting!" Meowth assured his female companion. "She was saying some crazy tings…and den she just stopped moving."

"Pikachu," Pikachu said, stepping next to Meowth. Ash looked down and noticed the grin on his partner's face.

"Wait…what's da twoip's Pikachu doin' here? I thought youse guys was going to capture it?" Meowth asked. Then his face widened even further in horror. Without a single command, Pikachu whipped his tail around and struck Meowth with a powerful Iron Tail. He flew back, Serena's pokeballs flying into the air. Ash quickly caught them as Meowth collided with his partners in crime, apparently passed out. Jessie looked down at him with boredom, almost like she uncharacteristically didn't care. James had recovered, too.

"So…what's wrong with the twerpette?"

"Why should we tell you?" Clemont said. Chespin also stepped forward in defiance, puffing his chest as he did so. Jessie blinked while James was rubbing the cheek that Dedenne had shocked.

"You don't know, do you?" he asked. He finished rubbing his cheek and pulled out a white flag, waving it like they were having some sort of truce. Maybe it was some sort of thanks for letting their food be stolen (and it wasn't like they couldn't get more later).

"That's not true!" Bonnie insisted, placing her hands on her hips and puffing her cheeks. Dedenne imitated her. "She's sick. That's what's wrong with her!"

"But why is the twerpette sick?" Jessie asked, almost like a concerned mother. It was weird on her and Ash narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Even Pikachu's cheeks were sparking. "Look, Meowth's down for now, and it's no fun stealing your Pokémon if we can't hear all of you yelling for us to give them back just so we can deny you."

"What Jessie means to say is that we're calling a moment of truce to help you out," James said with an emphatic nod. None of them stopped glaring at the villainous group. However, as Inkay and Gourgeist were fussing over Meowth, and neither Jessie nor James seemed to even want to move after snarfing all of their food, Ash decided it couldn't hurt to get some advice from those older than him…even if they were criminals.

"She just collapsed before lunch," Ash answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "We were in town, had some ice cream, bought some magazines and then came here, where she collapsed."

James was nodding, like he had somehow already figured it out. When he stopped, he looked at all three of them. "What kind of magazine was she looking at?"

"No idea. We never saw it, 'cause she put it in her bag," Bonnie answered, her body still tense and ready to attack, but her tone a little more trusting. James now looked at Jessie, who sighed and kicked at Meowth, enough to stir him from his sleep.

"Meowth, what magazine did the twerpette have in her bag when you went to steal the pokeballs?" she demanded. Her voice was sharp and very clearly enough to make Meowth spring up in fear.

"Looked like some kinda wedding magazine…" Meowth explained, still dazed from the Iron Tail he had taken. Jessie's eyes suddenly lit up with a fire, enough to make Ash step back in worry. James, meanwhile, stroked his chin as if he realized just what was going on. That disturbed Ash a little.

Jessie disturbed him more as she started cackling and guffawing.

"Twerps can be so ridiculously stupid…" she laughed out, falling off the chair she was occupying and crashing to the ground. "It's so obvious…"

"What's obvious? Even my invention couldn't figure out the problem," Clemont claimed defensively. Jessie kept laughing, the sound ringing all around the clearing. Now she had taken to rolling all around the clearing on her back (which seemed almost like she was having some kind of seizure, to Ash). The creepiest part, though, was that James was staring at him with a weird discerning gaze and grin on his lips. Eventually Jessie stopped and looked at James, who nodded with that same grin before returning to looking at him.

"She's lovesick!" Jessie proclaimed.

"Lovesick?" Clemont asked in surprise.

"Lovesick!" Bonnie yelled out, like it was obvious.

Ash just furrowed his brow and said, "What's that?"

"Pikapi…" Pikachu said, hanging his head while shaking it. Ash looked to his oldest partner, wondering just what Jessie meant by that. His question seemed to earn some unwanted attention from James, since the blue-haired Team Rocket member stood and slung an arm around his shoulders like _he_ usually did to Clemont.

It was creepy.

"Listen up, twerp," he began sternly, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "lovesickness is a very rare disease, and it can only be cured by one thing."

"But just what _is_ lovesickness?" Ash asked. He looked over to Pikachu who shook his own head. Not that he expected his best friend to have an answer; that would usually imply him knowing the answer too. Instead, he looked over at Clemont and Bonnie. The older sibling shrugged, but Bonnie just stared at him with a wicked little grin. That scared him even more than Jessie's cackling and James' arm around his shoulder.

"Lovesickness is simple; it's when someone holds feelings of love in for so long that it makes them sick," Jessie explained, as though he were a nine-year old. "Clearly, the twerpette is in love with someone but can't say it. This wedding fashion magazine must have put her over the edge and her body couldn't handle the stress of holding it in. So, she got sick."

"Serena's in love with someone?" Ash asked. He had asked it with curiosity and innocence, but only Clemont appeared to have the same kind of inquisitive look. Well, everyone else but Jessie seemed to be smacking their foreheads while the magenta-haired woman seemed to go off somewhere else, like she was in some sort of fantasy land. James just gripped him tighter, shaking his head a little.

"Of course she is, old chap," James expressed with a positively gleeful smile. This was just getting bizarre for him, so Ash ducked low and escaped from James' hold. "The twerpette is very obvious in her feelings."

"Who's she in love with?" Ash asked. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of Serena being in love with someone. Maybe it was because he felt she should focus on her journey. Yeah, that was certainly it. There wasn't time to fall in love. Then again, he did remember all the attention she seemed to get from a lot of boys: Tierno, Trevor, that trainer Jimmy…

"Boys can be _so_ oblivious," Jessie sighed out, taking a seat once again. Ash caught sight of Bonnie nodding, almost like she agreed with Jessie, which was rare and odd in and of itself. Still, even knowing the source of Serena's sickness, Ash was still at a loss as to how to cure her of it, then.

"So, how can we help her get better?"

James snapped his fingers in response, like he had come up with the most brilliant idea on the planet. "There's only one certified way to cure lovesickness."

"Have experience with that, James?" Jessie sniggered out. James shot a glare to her, but he affixed his grin back on when he looked at Ash.

"She needs a kiss."

"Uhhh…." Ash wasn't sure what to say to that. How would a kiss help Serena? Okay, yeah, people kissed on those sappy shows his mom would make him watch when he was younger; even Pokémon would do it, though Ash would often find that just strange. But what did any of _that_ have to do with any of _this_? "How will that-"

"You've read those old fairy tales, right?" James said, flourishing with his hands a little bit, as if trying to bring a point across. "You know, ones where the princess falls into a deep sleep and can't wake up? It's like that, old chap. Only, instead of a curse, she's sick."

"So you're saying…someone has to kiss her…?" Ash asked, making sure that he understood just what his common blue-haired foe was trying to explain to him. James nodded, like there was simply no other explanation for what would need to be done. Ash lowered his head, and his mind seemed to go blank. Someone…had to kiss…Serena? He didn't like the idea of that. It felt a bit like an invasion of privacy, especially when she was feeling so sick. No one else was offering any other explanation or solution, though. All Ash could figure was that being kissed by someone would help her to forget about her bottled-up feelings or whatever, which would stop causing her such stress to make her sick. But then…who would kiss her?

"Why don't you go ahead and do it, Ash?" Bonnie asked. Ash turned to look at her in confusion. She was wearing a wide grin, similar to the one that James had been wearing (and was still wearing).

"That sounds like an excellent idea, mini-twerpette!"

"I have a name!" Bonnie pouted, stomping on the ground a little. James just waved it off.

"Wait. Why me?" Ash wanted to debate. Even Clemont looked a little alarmed by Bonnie's sudden decision to make him do this. Though Ash guessed that it was less from Clemont wanting to kiss her, himself (because as far as he knew, Clemont saw her as a sister) and more from Bonnie's flat out insistence. Said insistence was ramped up to eleven when Bonnie closed the gap between herself and Ash and began to push him towards the tent. "Wait. Bonnie, what are you-?"

"You'll thank me later," Bonnie assured him. Then she showed the leg strength of a girl well beyond her age by kicking him inside the tent and subsequently zipping the flap shut, like she wouldn't let him out.

"Bonnie! Let me-"

"Sorry Ash, it's for Serena's own good."

"And your own, twerp," he heard Jessie snigger out to him. James' own cackles seemed to be mixed in with that. Ash just sighed. It looked like he was on his own. Even Pikachu was outside the tent. Now all he had to do was supposedly kiss Serena to help her out. That couldn't be too hard. It also seemed to be the only way out of the tent, either way. Shrugging his shoulders, he crouched on the ground and moved close to Serena.

The first thing he did was feel her head. The fever appeared to have gone down, though the rag on her head was all but useless now. She also didn't look quite so flushed, though her mouth was moving a little, making practically inaudible noises. Ash blinked a few times as he looked down at her. She looked kind of nice, framed in the very filtered light of the tent. The way her honey hair framed her face, and the turn of her lips. If Ash hadn't seen her every day, he would have said she looked very different.

The weird part was that it all made him hesitate.

"Ash…" he heard her breathe out, barely a mumble. Smiling slightly, Ash reached out and took her hand. "Stay…"

"I'm right here, Serena," he said. Why was he hesitating? Why was he wavering on something so simple? Wasn't this supposed to help Serena get better? "Sorry, but this is supposed to make you feel better."

Then he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Thanks to the fact that she was cooled off now, it wasn't quite so warm on his lips, but somehow, her skin felt soft. He didn't know why, but those three seconds that his lips were pressed to her head, and he was brushing back her hair to keep it out of the way, filled him nearly with the same exhilaration that a Pokémon battle did. Serena stirred from it, and her hand clenched his in an almost comforting way. He could actually feel the tension beginning to melt away from her body. Maybe James wasn't lying after-

"Ash! Get out here!" Clemont's panicked voice yelled out. Ash shot up, making sure to disengage from Serena's hand before he did so. He watched her for just a moment as Serena turned over in her sleep, a smile on her face. He'd have to check on her in just a bit. Ash angled himself toward the tent entrance and slammed into it, causing a slight tear near the zipper area. Reaching his hand through the opening, he began to forcibly unzip the tent from the outside. Just as he was about to get outside, he heard Serena rustling over.

"Love…you…" The thought made him pause. Just what was Serena dreaming about, anyway? He didn't need to worry, because her eyes soon snapped open and she caught sight of him. All too quickly, she pulled her sleeping bag up on her. "Ash? What are you doing in here? What's going on?"

"Are you feeling better?" he asked concernedly, practically forgetting that he needed to get outside.

"Yeah, but…what are you doing?"

"Sorry. I'll explain later!" With that, Ash finished unzipping the tent flap and he sprung outside, pokeball in hand. The first thing he saw were Bonnie and Clemont bound together by one of Team Rocket's contraptions, while up above, Chespin, Dedenne and Pikachu were all caught in an electricity-resistant net. "Hey, give us back our Pokémon!"

"Like we'd do that, twerp!"

"Why don't you make us?" Meowth called out with a wicked laugh. He should have known this would happen. Sure, James hadn't been lying about what would help Serena, but he had still used it as a trap to get him out of the way. He prepared to throw out his pokeball when something unexpected happened.

"Braixen, use Fire Blast!" Ash turned his head at Serena's command and watched as Braixen emerged from the tent, her trainer right next to her. He moved out of the way as fast as he could to see Braixen hold her wand aloft and send the five pronged attack streaming right at the balloon.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail and break the net!"

"Pika!" Pikachu acknowledged. His tail glowed white and he swung it around, slicing through the net and depositing the three captured Pokémon to the ground, just as the Fire Blast hit Team Rocket's balloon.

"That's not fair! She's supposed to be sick!" Jessie yelled out as the explosion hit.

"Hmm…I guess it was lovesickness for the twerp, after all," James remarked. Ash narrowed his eyes. What was that supposed to mean?

"Youse two are useless. All dat trickin' and look what's happenin' to us anyway!"

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" And Ash watched all of them disappear into the sky. Pikachu quickly ran up to him and happily leaped into his trainer's arms. Ash laughed a little, and watched as Pikachu climbed back onto his shoulder. Confident that his best friend was okay, Ash turned back towards Serena.

"You sure you're feeling better? We wouldn't want you to strain yourself," Ash told her. Serena just turned to him, and placed her hands behind her back with a ridiculously adorable smile. Ash shook his head just a little, not knowing where that thought had come from.

"I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me, Ash."

"Soo…" Bonnie said, sidling in between the two, with Dedenne on her head. "Did you two kiss?"

"K-kiss?" Serena squeaked out. Her face suddenly flushed, and Ash worried that she had already gotten sick again. Then he felt his own face flushing a little unexpectedly as he remembered pressing his lips against her head.

"Yeah, supposedly you came down with lovesickness and Ash had to kiss you for you to feel better," Clemont answered. "Though…I have no idea how we came to _that_ particularly unscientific conclusion."

"You…you kissed me, Ash? For me to feel better?"

"Just on the forehead!" Ash assured her. He didn't want her to think he'd done something weird. That statement hung in the air for a few seconds before Serena smiled again, causing his breath to catch.

"Thank you, Ash! You're so sweet," she said, and then she turned back into the tent, presumably to change. Seeing her honey-blonde hair shimmer in the sunlight, Ash swallowed thickly. What was going on with him now? Was he coming down with some sort of sickness, himself?

"Careful, Ash. You look flushed. We wouldn't want _you_ to get lovesickness, would we?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Bonnie," Ash said with a slight cough. Unfortunately, her grin wasn't letting him go, and when Serena emerged from the tent, only one coherent thought began to run through him.

 _I think I might have been sick since I asked Serena to join me…_ And he didn't mind at all.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Well, that's this one complete! I had a** _ **lot**_ **of fun writing this one. After my last two oneshots were essentially introspectives that delved into the minds of the characters and explored certain things, it was much more fun to write pure humor. At least…I hope it was pure humor for you. *sweats and chuckles nervously* That said, Bonnie continues to be a troll, even through this story, but it was fun writing that. Also, yes, I decided to not have Ash kiss her on the lips. For one…it would have felt out of character, and for another, no one ever said** _ **where**_ **to kiss her. That said, it's pretty clear that at the end, Ash is having an awakening, and that's where I wanted to leave it. Feel free to let your imaginations roam.**

 **So, with this particular oneshot done, I now have one more planned for next week set in the Ancienverse. It won't be nearly as Amourshippy as everything else I've written has been, but it will still be there and will instead have some nice Laserbladeshipping! It will also provide a very small setup for the upcoming sequel story. Don't worry, I'll let you all know when that's up through "Love in the Time of Teamwork". Otherwise, you can check my profile page for upcoming information on it. I promise that it will be different from my last story, but equally good (I'm really liking where my outline for it is going). Also, another thanks to those who favorited and reviewed my last oneshot. So, until next Tuesday, please do Review and, of course,**

 **Dare to Be Silly,**

 **Epicocity**


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